First Impressionism

Should have moved this group of three more to the foreground - left in frame and toward camera.

Brave souls in boats!

Getting the sailboat in the scene was pure luck... the wind was ferocious, Dr. Charles did an awesome job just getting across the river and into the photo!

Excuse me, what is this?

I want my glasses!

It's hot out here!

He said there were kibbles in the grass. I don't see no kibbles. I don't smell no kibbles...

why are they complaining, it could have been raining!

It's a turtle silly!

Thank you for the shade,
and putting me in front.

why have you left that bit sharp?

Because this large sculpture is unique to this park in Beloit and wanted it to remain visible.

;D))))))

Isn't this supposed to be a small dog and a monkey?

Perfect touch!

Judy Robson - First woman Majority Leader of the Wisconsin State Senate

It's hot, and it's monotonous.

Chicago haze

Up here is Madison. Chicago is the other way.

The Snapping Turtle is the unofficial mascot of Beloit.

I know people will be anxious to see the results of Saturday afternoon's photo-op. The weather cooperated beautifully with one glaring exception... the wind was ferocious... which kept things cool but shredded at least two umbrellas.

Isn't the woman with the bag on right just perfect for this scene?

It's early. I've had only one cup of coffee, but decided to see what would come of this one. This is just a rough draft with some processing. Click the ALL SIZES link above for a better view.

I'm angry with myself for missing the obvious people placement issues (see notes on photo). It looks like everyone needed to come forward, towards camera... too much gap between 5 folks and dog in foreground and the rest of crowd going back - the mid-crowd area.

To be sure there are more where this came from, and probably better, too. I hope other photos from other photographers will appear online soon. I can't wait to see what John Spates and Jim Simonson took.

My son was working at Walgreens' photo lab yesterday and processed film from three people immediately after the shoot. He was probably the first person to get a good look at the results. Don't ya just love this small city living?

A Beloit Daily News article reporting on the event itself appeared in the Monday, July 3rd edition: Art is alive along river

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Comments

< Prev 1 2 Next >

(112 comments)

unprose says:

You DID get it! Gramody and I thought you might! She told me about the project. I love the concept. I knew exactly what painting was going to be replicated before she told me -- the riverfront I saw there 2 years ago reminded me of just that painting!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

akoestner says:

I think it looks great. It was a heck of an undertaking.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

brilho-de-conta [deleted] says:

like Seurat: 'Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'

special!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

The Eggplant says:

Wow.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

johndeand says:

this is amazing, a community working together to recreate one of the best art pieces in history.... bravo
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

lsc21 says:

Extraordinary shot
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

viewerblur says:

Fantastic idea!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

PhilipsPhotos says:

My wife has a copy of the Georges Seurat painting hanging over our fireplace, maybe I should switch it with this more modern version. Great Job!!!!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Devar says:

What a great idea. Well done!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Computer Science Geek says:

Man, this is something I've always wanted to do myself. So this on Flickr Blog, so you're gonna get a lot more comments and faves.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

scottishchris says:

congrats, look forward to seeing other versions
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

archidose says:

First, this is really cool! The undertaking itself and the result are really impressive.

Second, I'd like to respond to your comment that "I'm angry with myself for missing the obvious people placement issues." Well, you shouldn't be. To me, the placement of the people is done very well. What makes your undertaking so difficult -- and might be one reason for your anger -- is the perspective that Seurat used. Where you are at eye level, he is slightly above. Where your image is split almost 50/50 between above and below the horizon, the painting is more like a 20/80 between above and below. Seurat is able to create a huge area of ground that enables various characters to be situated very evenly across the grass. With a photo at eye level, that's very hard to recreate. Maybe to achieve a stronger literal photo of the painting, the camera would need to be elevated somehow. This is definitely not a criticism of your image (like I said, I think it's cool and very well done), but more a comment on the differences between photography and painting.

But I realize that this and other photo-ops aren't only about recreating an image but moreso about the act of recreating an image. It looks like everybody really go into it, even the dog in the foreground!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

OldOnliner says:

Wow... Thanks everyone... and thanks Heather Champ at Flickr for featuring this set on the Flickr blog. What a surprise to come home to after a long day at work.

Beloit's a great place... we had a great group of people from Friends of Riverfront and just interested people who read about it in the paper or heard about it at Music at Harry's the night before. Dr. Charles and his sailboat, Bill Dorr and his dog (and peanut butter!), the lady with the handbag (bussle-stand-in)... and everyone just dove in and this is what happened. It might seem romantic, but felt like this "idea" took on a life of its own... moving along like the breeze in the air that afternoon. I am grateful to everyone who was there... Becky, Jeff, Kathleen, Betsy, John, and many more.

Wonderful and fascinating... far exceeding all expectation.

@archidose - Of course you are right... The comment above was made very early on as I reviewed almost 80 frames from this; it was an initial and emotional note.

Further 'complicating' the view is that there are no "natural" perspectives in the painting. Seurat painted the background and then added the people and figures from paintings he'd already done. At least that's what my French expert friend (Hi Dani!) says. ;-)

A great reference for Seurat is - www.abcgallery.com/S/seurat/seurat.html. It's quite interesting, particularly the detail studies - www.abcgallery.com/S/seurat/seurat-3.html.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

archphoenix says:

WOW. This is amazing! And don't sweat the minor details about the people placement - I knew exactly what this was before I read the details and I'm an idiot! ;) Well done.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

B.G. - Oodwin says:

The effort it's self should be commended. Take's lots of communication to pull something like this off. You learn from mistakes. Give it another shot. I believe more props ie: hats and umbrellas would create a tighter image by filling in more negative space. It's hard to take a painting ratio and turn it into a photograph ratio. Golf Clap.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

OldOnliner says:

We've printed a slightly more refined edit version of this photo. A copy of that version is here:

Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

melissa.. says:

I cry everytime I see Sunday in person, wow what a fantastic amazing project.. thank you so much for sharing!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

B.G. - Oodwin says:

I went to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I photographed these while I was there. Thought you might like to see these.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

blazes says:

Life imitating art....
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

psd says:

Lovely! I've added the tag Tableau vivant
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

_mpd_ says:

Fantastic idea. Now to just splatter the participants with paintballs ...
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

jhary says:

Really great idea and well executed. The logistics must have been a nightmare.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

OldOnliner says:

Thanks for the "Tableau Vivant" tag and link, and the AIC photos. Nice information.

Logistics-wise we simply had a great group of people. It's just awesome to see our Beloit community get noticed like this.

Considering how much this idea resonates, I think a pilgrimage to the Art Institute of Chicago is in order. Vacation is a week away, and the AIC is a two hour drive or three hour train ride southeast of Beloit.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

fujiyama17 says:

This is a wonderful idea - and very good job pulling it off :))
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

wiseacre photo says:

what a brilliant idea and wonderfully executed. let's hope we see more "life imitating art" photos (in fact ... that gives me an idea ..)
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

brooksba says:

This is wonderful! Love it!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

ReidCarlberg says:

fantastic!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

aelkigirl [deleted] says:

Amazing!!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

L790 says:

well done! looks like that would have been fun, but a huge undertaking. Great job!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

kestbr says:

Cool concept.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

johnsanders says:

I'm forwarding this to all my european friends who doubt that there are enlightened Americans.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Elliott P says:

Very cool. I think that this is a fun way to bring art back into the mainstream. I saw this on a number of tech blogs, which who knows, could spark some interest in some young people.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

hongcheng says:

It's absolutely fantastic!!!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Thread Gatherer says:

How did you get the dog to do stand just right? Amazing work!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

yoshiboshi says:

Wow, that is so.....it's just....wow. :)
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Capocchione says:

amazing photo!!!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

wireful says:

Fantastic. I saw this on Boing Boing.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Ha Yan says:

Lovely, but you really, really shouldn't have "pointillized" the photo.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

rawallison says:

Very nice! You did a great job. I couldn't help but speculate about how you got the dog to pose so perfectly... :-)
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

SarekOfVulcan says:

Red red red red red red orange
Red red orange
Orange
Pick up blue
Pick up red
Pick up orange
On the blue green blue green blue green circle
On the violet diagonal
Di ag ag ag ag ag ag on al
Yellow, comma, yellow, comma...

Err, I think I may have listened to that album too many times. :-) Well done!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Spoker says:

Like a painting! Isn't photography just like painting with light? I love this one.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Ray-of-Sun says:

Has anybody said Cartier Bresson, reminds me of "On the Banks of the Marne"!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

stirwise says:

*sigh*
Too bad the monkey couldn't be there. He's my favorite part.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

czeltic girl says:

klannert -- I was thinking the same thing. :)

Way to go, Beloit! Must have been a fun afternoon. Great results.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Mute* says:

Love it! It's remarkably successful, especially the dog!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

cemberlynesmom says:

Amazing. Truely.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Izabug says:

unbelievable portrayal of how a community can come together and create something so beautiful!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Mopped Top says:

awesome. just awesome. i love it!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Alastair Rae says:

Stunning. We went to see a great production of Sunday in the Park with George in London last month - this brings back happy memories.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

México nostálgico y mágico says:

wow! that's it's impresionante !!!!!!!!!!!! a fave
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

karmablue says:

Amazing indeed :)
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

storm runner says:

What a wonderful idea for a community project. Congratulations.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

My Symbiosis says:

Perfect!
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

SimplySchmoopie says:

This is great!
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

inspectorhound says:

Congratulations, OldOnliner. It's an impressive achivement.

And I have to second SarekOfVulcan's reference… you may or may not have heard/seen Stephen Sondheim's musical "Sunday in the Park with George"--Act I of which is entirely about Georges Seurat painting "A Sunday afternoon…", but if you haven't, it's available on DVD. Check your local library. You'd get a kick of it. (Sondheim & James Lapine, the director/librettist, do the same thing at the end of Act I onstage that you did here in a photo.) Well worth seeing.
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

Indrema says:

Amazing
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

sztalker777 says:

wow
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

Buggs Moran says:

Wow, wow, wow, what a fantastic and fun idea. Faved.
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

hummanna says:

it's good, fun, and exciting to see this project of yours!
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

Fredbird says:

Fantastic work!!! ...a modern version of an already incredible piece of art.. ..Sunday Afternoon... has always been my favorite painting. Thanks for sharing.
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

thermophle says:

congratulations! it looks fabulous!
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

txemacantropus [deleted] says:

Wellllllllll
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

m00nbugg says:

Awesome!
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

davew1 says:

Wow, this image is worth all the time and effort everyone put in.. Great Job.
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

ZLZ says:

ART Reappear！
WOW
GREAT！
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

M4XIM4GE says:

Wow you even get the grain effect at high rez. Nice job!
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

anniegregory says:

That is, perhaps, one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

lomokev says:

that must of taken time!
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

vergil66 says:

Very impressive...you made me smile today.
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

Love the 214 says:

how fun!!! what a great idea...i love it
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

cakecosas says:

awesome idea!
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

«Gaurav» says:

Great idea, and pulled off so well! The dog is placed so perfectly. Great shot!
Posted 36 months ago. ( permalink )

zoelisbeth says:

Wow! I just was blown away by this endeavor! I was checking out
Gordy's blog, and I had to link immediately to see this up close! Wow

BTW, have you seen the DVD Sunday in the Park with George ? I think you'll be tickled how musical theater interpreted this painting.

Great Job! Bravo - more! Encore! ..Zoe
Posted 35 months ago. ( permalink )

OldOnliner says:

Thanks for reminder on renting the DVD, I'd forgotten I was going to do that!

Also... again... Thanks to everyone for their comments and interest.

I blogged about how the event went at - oldonliner.blogspot.com/
Posted 35 months ago. ( permalink )

winchesta says:

Please consider adding this photo to Shibui. Thank you. (:
Posted 34 months ago. ( permalink )

estella says:

Wow!!!!!
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

lionsgater says:

Excellent. This is a a great re enactment of a favorite painting.

John
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

Pezzi di Vita says:

Great!!!!
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

krostar says:

superb shot!!!!
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

EarthShots.org Photo Contest says:

This is great.. well done!
Earth Shots
Posted 32 months ago. ( permalink )

The Challenge says:

Fascinating piece of work!!!
Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

Nescio says:

Fantastic! Fav.
Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

Mónica (Monguinhas) says:

I just saw this photo on a discussion on the Picasa group and I completely felt in love with it. Congrats, your photo is one of the most interesting ones I have seen here on Flickr. Absolute fave!
Posted 31 months ago. ( permalink )

Iweczek says:

WordMingle, a social vocabulary building tool, pulled this picture for the word Ferocious
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

bwilderbeast says:

Fantastic picture! I knew immediately what painting it referred and the fact it's not exact improves it and prevents it from being merely a banal copy. Bravo!
Great Picture -
You deserve a Golden Powershot!

Canon Powershot A610/20/30/40(EXIF Please!)

--
Seen in Canon Powershot A610/A620/A630/A640 (EXIF please!) (?)
Posted 25 months ago. ( permalink )

Wespionage says:

This is wonderful! Puts a big smile on my face -- what an amazing job here.

--
Seen in a discussion of Utata. (?)
Posted 25 months ago. ( permalink )

StarrGazr says:

That is fabulous!! You even got the dog to stay put. What an incredible project pulled off so well.
Posted 25 months ago. ( permalink )

OldOnliner says:

Thanks again for new comments, favs and refer to discussion in Utata.

We had a great day, with great people, in a great place, with lots of luck. It was a total "team" effort, I was just the lucky guy with the camera.

Someone printed a matte copy at 24" X 36" where the pixels started to become pretty obvious (and the "printed version" of photo was "grained" to make it more canvas-like for printing) and it actually looked really good. Even at that size, Seurat painted using far more dots per square inch than are (or may ever be) apparent in the digital camera's 5 million pixels.

The photo was used for the cover of Visit Beloit's main tourism guidebook/magazine published every two years.

It has become a kind of living icon of the Friends of Riverfront organization and the printer inserted as Monet's canvas in a promo photo shot for this summer's Edge of the Rock Plein Air event:

Posted 25 months ago. ( permalink )

pam ullman says:

This is so wonderful! I can't stop smiling. Seen in Utata's weekend project.
Posted 25 months ago. ( permalink )

breezesdiver says:

Just perfect!
Posted 25 months ago. ( permalink )

kac_arts says:

Wow...Incredible
Posted 25 months ago. ( permalink )

Greg' says:

Utterly amazing work... the lady's bag with the umbrellas on it is beautiful !!

...seen in What is your most popular picture?
Posted 25 months ago. ( permalink )

kellygrape says:

This is so utterly amazing. In chorus in sophomore year, we sang "Sunday" from "Sunday in the Park with George", and at one point we made the stage into this painting - I was the girl sitting looking at her flowers.

What fantastic work. An instant fave.
Posted 24 months ago. ( permalink )

♪ The Colour Of Air ♪ says:

Amazing!
Posted 24 months ago. ( permalink )

manyone1 says:

i entered my contest entry incorporating your photo in the flickr group down under challenge.

i hope you will allow me to keep it posted there. thanks

Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

OldOnliner says:

What a wonderful treatment of the photo. Just love the juxtaposition with painting!

If you can, would you please send a copy to the folks at Friends of Riverfront!
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

doeth says:

I followed the link from manyone1's down under entry, I am flabbergasted at your wonderful photo, well done!!!!!!!
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

Ochileer says:

I too am here because of manyone1. Initially I missed the link to this picture and could not understand how he had managed to stage such a photograph for the challenge.
This was a remarkable project and is immediately recognizeable as Seurat brought up to date. I would not worry in the least about any minor misplacements - the overall image is a complete success!!
Posted 22 months ago. ( permalink )

CommonObjects - by Jay says:

fantastic job.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Freak_Irish_Sister says:

Really great job!!! You're a genius!
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

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First Impressionism

Comments

unprose says:

akoestner says:

brilho-de-conta [deleted] says:

The Eggplant says:

johndeand says:

lsc21 says:

viewerblur says:

PhilipsPhotos says:

Devar says:

Computer Science Geek says:

scottishchris says:

archidose says:

OldOnliner says:

archphoenix says:

B.G. - Oodwin says:

OldOnliner says:

melissa.. says:

B.G. - Oodwin says:

blazes says:

psd says:

_mpd_ says:

jhary says:

OldOnliner says:

fujiyama17 says:

wiseacre photo says:

brooksba says:

ReidCarlberg says:

aelkigirl [deleted] says:

L790 says:

kestbr says:

johnsanders says:

Elliott P says:

hongcheng says:

Thread Gatherer says:

yoshiboshi says:

Capocchione says:

wireful says:

Ha Yan says:

rawallison says:

SarekOfVulcan says:

Spoker says:

Ray-of-Sun says:

stirwise says:

czeltic girl says:

Mute* says:

cemberlynesmom says:

Izabug says:

Mopped Top says:

Alastair Rae says:

México nostálgico y mágico says:

karmablue says:

storm runner says:

My Symbiosis says:

SimplySchmoopie says:

inspectorhound says:

Indrema says:

sztalker777 says:

Buggs Moran says:

hummanna says:

Fredbird says:

thermophle says:

txemacantropus [deleted] says:

m00nbugg says:

davew1 says:

ZLZ says:

M4XIM4GE says:

anniegregory says:

lomokev says:

vergil66 says:

Love the 214 says:

cakecosas says:

«Gaurav» says:

zoelisbeth says:

OldOnliner says:

winchesta says:

*estella* says:

lionsgater says:

Pezzi di Vita says:

estella says: